Laura Camp

Said the following about Anja Vrambout:

“Anja Vrambout has worked as an On Board Supervisor for Gatwick Express since 2020. She recently made her first lifesaving intervention and is sharing her story for World Suicide Prevention Day on 10 September.

“A few weeks ago, I was working with my colleague on the train and a concerned customer alerted us to a man who said he wanted to take his own life. I was worried about this man’s welfare, so once I had a description of him, I went to find him.

“When I was walking down the train, I heard a man shouting from inside one of the toilets while he was kicking the door. Shortly after, the door opened and I could see it was the man I’d been searching for because he was very agitated and had been drinking a lot of alcohol. I approached him calmly and started a conversation to find out what was bothering him, and he told me a lot of things had gone wrong in his personal life recently.

“I moved him to a quieter bit of the train and talked to him about his hometown in the north of England to distract him from his suicidal thoughts. I also asked if I could hold his hand and told him: ‘We’re going to do our best to get you the care you need, because this is not the solution’. Before we reached our last stop, I called the emergency services and asked them to meet us at that station, because I couldn’t let this man go knowing he was in this state.”

Anja, who lives in Crawley, said, although it was daunting saving someone’s life for the first time, she kept calm by remembering her suicide prevention training.

“This was the first suicidal person I’d dealt with, which was quite daunting because I normally see passengers on Gatwick Express who are excited to go on holiday. However, I remembered from my training that I needed to talk to this man and make him feel like he was being listened to – that was the most important lesson.”“